DRUGGED SUITORS IN 12DP - THE MIDNIGHT ARCHIVE

Passages from The 12 Dancing Princesses, from The Midnight Archive podcast. 

Note how it describes the effects of the drug: somnolence, then complete chemical unconsciousness, then amnesia/blackout. The same effects of rauha, which could have been laudanum, datura, or deadly nightshade (datura also causes identical effects: somnolence, then complete chemical unconsciousness, then blackouts).

The suitors here suffer from en-bloc blackouts. IE they don't remember anything that happened during their chemical unconsciousness. En bloc blackouts are classified by the inability to later recall any memories from the intoxication period, even when prompted. These blackouts are characterized also by the ability to easily recall things that have occurred within the last 2 minutes, yet being unable to recall anything prior to this period. As such, a person experiencing an en bloc blackout may not appear to be doing so, as they can carry on conversations or even manage to accomplish difficult feats. It is difficult to determine the end of this type of blackout as sleep typically occurs before they end, although it is possible for an en bloc blackout to end if the affected person has stopped drinking in the meantime.

In a study of university students in the US, 51% of the students reported that they had had at least one blackout. Blackouts were reported during activities such as spending money (27%), sexual conduct (24%), fighting (16%), vandalism (16%), unprotected intercourse (6%), and driving a car (3%). So a significant number of students were engaged in a range of possibly hazardous activities during blackouts.

(The first suitor)

 He can see the 12 beds arranged in a row. He

can see the 12 beautiful sisters preparing for sleep. The eldest princess

approaches him with a cup of wine. You must be tired from your journey, she

says. Her voice is kind. Her smile is warm.

This will help you stay awake. The prince thanks her. He drinks the wine.

It's delicious, rich, and sweet with an undertone he doesn't recognize. He lies

down on his bed. He watches the princesses through the open door. He's

determined to stay awake, determined to see whatever happens. He watches and watches and then his eyes grow heavy, his thoughts grow

fuzzy, his head nods, jerks up, nods again. He sleeps.

In the morning, the prince wakes to find 12 pairs of shoes worn through to nothing. He saw nothing, heard nothing,

remembers nothing after a certain point in the evening. Nothing after drinking that cup of wine the eldest princess

gave him. He slept through the entire night deep and dreamless while the

princesses did whatever they did, he's confused, frightened. He was so certain

he would stay awake, so certain his willpower would be enough. He's given a

second night. He's determined to do better this time. He refuses the wine

politely, carefully, claiming he doesn't care for it. The eldest princess smiles

and doesn't insist, but somehow he still falls asleep. Still wakes to ruined

shoes. Still has no explanation. Did they put something in his food, in the

water? Did they use some magic he can't detect? A third night, the same result. Sleep takes him against his will and he wakes to failure.  (The next suitor)

He's trained himself to stay awake for days at a time. He won't make the same mistakes. He makes exactly the same mistakes. He drinks the wine or doesn't drink it, but somehow sleeps anyway. He sees nothing, hears nothing, wakes to ruined shoes and a death sentence. He's executed, too. Then  commoners who have nothing to lose, desperate men willing to risk their lives for the chance at wealth and a princess. Each one confident, each one determined, each one drugged into sleep by wine the princesses offer with sweet smiles and kind words. 

(The fairy warns the hero) 

The second gift is advice. "When the princesses offer you wine, the old woman says, "Don't drink it. They've been drugging their watchers. That's how they've defeated every man before you. Pretend to drink, but let the wine spill. Then pretend to fall asleep. Snore loudly. Make them believe you're unconscious like all the others." She knows. Somehow this old woman on the side of the road knows exactly how the princesses have been maintaining their secret. 

(The hero pretends to drink, but doesn't swallow the wine) 

The eldest approaches with a cup of wine. You must be tired from your journey, she says. Her voice is kind. Her smile is warm. This will help you stay awake. The soldier takes the cup. He brings it to his lips. And he remembers the old woman's words. The soldier pretends to drink. He brings the cup to his mouth, tilts it back, but beneath his chin, hidden by his collar, he's placed a sponge. The wine pours into the sponge instead of his throat. Not a single drop passes his lips. He hands the empty cup back to the eldest princess. 

"Thank you," he says. "You're very kind." She smiles. The same smile she's given to all the others. The same kindness that preceded their drugged sleep and eventual execution. The soldier lies down on his bed. 

He closes his eyes, but not all the way. Through the narrow slits of his lids, he watches the open door, watches the 12 princesses in their chamber, and he begins to snore. Loud snores, theatrical snores, the snores of a man deeply, completely chemically unconscious. The snores that every failed suitor produced after drinking the drugged wine. 

The princesses watch him through the doorway. They wait. They listen. One of them, the youngest, creeps closer, peering at him to make sure he's truly asleep. The soldier snores louder. Finally, satisfied, the princesses begin to move. 

"But the wine, he drank it so quickly. And something felt different when we crossed the grove last time. I heard sounds." 

"You imagine things." The eldest finishes pinning her hair. "Look at him. He's asleep like all the others, snoring like a pig. By morning, he'll remember nothing."

(The following day) 

Everything repeats. The eldest princess brings the drugged wine. The soldier pretends to drink, lets it spill into the hidden sponge. He lies down. He snores. 

No fear shows on their faces. No one has ever discovered their secret. No one has ever stayed awake through the drugged wine. This soldier will fail like all the others. 

Why they drug their watchers and send them to death.

(The crown princess reveals everything)

And she's tired. Tired of the secret, tired of the drugged wine and the dead suitors and the constant fear of discovery. 

"It's true," she says. Her voice is quiet but steady. "Everything he says is true."

The other princesses say nothing. They don't need to. The eldest has spoken for all of them. Their secret is exposed.

(Of course there is a happy ending; the hero marries the crown princess).

(Commentary)

Every night... They drug their watchers.